I’m back from the land of the midnight sun and trying to get caught up on any retirement news I missed while on the road.  One item that caught my eye was the Social Security Administration’s decision to provide online statements for estimated retirement benefits.  You may have noticed that they quit mailing the paper statements last year in a bid to save about $70 million a year in mailing costs.  Saving money is good, but being in the dark about your potential benefits is bad, so I’m glad they’re making the change.

To access your statement, go to www.ssa.gov and create a secure account.  Once done you will be able to see your complete earnings history as well as the total Social Security and Medicare taxes paid over your career.  More importantly, you can see the retirement benefits you can expect to receive at different ages (i.e. 62, full retirement age, and 70) so you can factor that information into your planning.

For more information on Social Security, just scan through the list of related posts below.  Have a great weekend and touch base if I can ever help.

Joe